Portable chimney type chick container assembly



g- 25, 1959 D. A. DANIELSEN ,9

PORTABLE CHIMNEY TYPE CHICK CONTAINER ASSEMBLY Filed 001',- 23, 1957 2 sh s 1 l2\ 9 5 [l2 {ll 'OOOOOOgOOOOOgOOQOOM 3 OOOQOQDOOOOCPOQOO W C D OOOOQOOOOOQOOOOO 4 1,1111 \-l| .-2----.;---- 3 INVENTOR. DALE A. DA NIELSEN zTf okNEy Q Aug. 25, 1959 D. A. DANIELSEN PORTABLE CHIMNEY TYPE CHICK CONTAINER ASSEMBLY FiledOct. 23, 1957 2 Sheets-sheet. 2

INVENTOR. DALE A. DANI ELSE N ,BM M M United States new PORTABLE TYPE CHICK CQNTAINER ASSEMBLY Application October 23, 1957, semi No. 691,856 5' Claims. Cl. 119-15 This invention relates generally to containers and more particularly to a chick container having a chimney type ventilating duct.

Shipping live baby chicks throughout the country is becoming an increasingly important business every year. However, it has been attended with serious difficulties, one of which is that extreme care must be exercised in the handling and packaging of the chicks for shipment because of their age and because they must be in good condition when they arrive at their destination. Despite all eiforts made by shippers and carriers, a sizable number of chicks die each trip because of suffocation and over-crowding.

Baby chicks today are conventionally shipped in venti lated cardboard containers, with approximately 104-110 chicks per container. These containers have perforated walls and covers to permit flow of air through the container so that the chicks can breathe. When the containers are filled, they are placed one on top of the other to comprise a single stack which is usually tied together for convenience of shipping and handling. These stacks are placed closely adjacent one another to conserve shipping space, which in the case of shipment by air, is of prime importance. The over-all elfect is to create a large mass of individual containers of which only the outside walls will receive sufiicient ventilation, so that chicks in that section of the container adjacent to other containers are in danger of suifocation.

Still another defect exists in conventional containers in current use. Although such containers are usually stacked on top of one another when being shipped, no provision is made to keep the containers properly aligned in a vertical direction. Consequently, there is a tendency for the containers to slip outof place and topple the entire stack.

Broadly, I propose to overcome the aforementioned difiiculties by providing a central ventilating duct which runs through the center of each container and which may be tapered at one end to fit into an adjacent end of a duct in a vertically adjacent container in order to align the containers.

Referring to the drawings in which a preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated,

Fig. 1 is a side view showing a stack of vertically aligned containers;

Fig. 2. is a plan view of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an exploded view showing in perspective the individual elements making up a single container.

Referring initially to Fig. 3, there is shown a bottom portion 1 having a base 2, upstanding side walls 3 and upstanding end walls 4, each wall being perforated with air holes as shown at 5, the purpose of which is to allow air to flow into and through the container. The base 2 has an opening 6 which is larger than the perforated air holes.

A cross piece 7 or partition fits into the bottom portion 1 in order to strengthen it and to partition it into sep arate compartments. Each arm "of the cross piece 7 is 2 perforated with air holes to permit circulation of air between adjacent compartments. Each armo f thecross piece 7. further has a s1ot8 to receive a wall of a ventilating duct 9 which,for convenience,I have=shown-to be in circular form. Slots 10 are cut in theventiIatingduct-Q to receive the arms of the cross piece 7 in'ord'er 't'ofirmly hold" the ventilating duct'inthe proper position. withrespect to the cross piece; This duct is also perforated in. order to allow air to pass through the ductand branch oif through. the air holes into thejindividiial' com= partments.

A cover 11 fits on to the bottom portion 1 and is held firmly in place by flaps 12 which pass through slots 13 cut in the cover. Cover 11 has an opening 14 which is coaxial with opening 6 and of slightly smaller size. When the container is assembled, flaps 12 are folded and stapled down on the cover in order to securely lock it to the base portion.

Similarly, the duct 9 is provided with flaps 15 which are folded back against the base 2 in order to hold the duct, cross piece and cover securely to the bottom of the bottom portion. While it is not shown, it is obvious that the arms of the cross piece 7 could likewise have flaps on its bottom in order to cooperate with slots cut in the base to provide additional means for holding the container together.

The ventilating duct 9 is tapered in shape in order that its top portion may always fit into the bottom portion of an adjacent duct when containers are stacked one upon the other. For this purpose the duct 9 is provided with an extension 15, shown in Fig. 1, which will extend into the larger end of adjacent tapered ducts and so serve to keep stacked containers vertically aligned.

It is easily seen by referring to Fig. 1, that when containers are stacked one upon another, that all compartments will receive ventilation since all compartments, no matter how the individual stacks are placed with relation to one another, will be at all times in communication with an air duct 9 and no compartment will be blanked out. The stapled flaps 12 will serve as a spacing support to space the bottom portion or base of a top container away from the coverof an adjacent bottom container so as to provide additional ventilating space between the containers. At the same time, the ducts of the various containers forming the stack will be interlocked so as to provide a single continuous ventilating passage in the stack passing from container to container.

A container according to my design may be economically made from cardboard and shipped to the user in knocked-down form wherein all the sheets are fiat and pre-cut to proper size. By merely stapling together the parts, one can have a chick container which under all shipping conditions, provides adequate ventilation.

While I have shown the containers as being square and trapezoidal in shape and have shown the ventilating duct as being circular in shape, it is obvious that the containers could take other shapes and still be within the scope of the claimed invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A chick container comprising a flat rectangular base having upstanding perforated side walls, a first central opening in said base, a flat cover having a second central opening therein smaller than said first opening, said cover restingon said side walls and spaced from said base, a centrally disposed tapered perforated ventilating duct having side walls of a shape substantially conforming to that of said first and second openings and in alignment therewith, and a portion of said walls of said duct extending through and above said second opening.

an upper container adjacent the cover of an adjacent 7 lower container, and wherein an upper portion of the duct of said iower container extends into the 'duct of said upper container to vertically align and interlock said containers in said stack said ducts being interlocked to provide a continuous ventilating passage in said stack from container to container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 903,918 'Thrower Nov. 17, 1908 950,902 Engel Mar. 1, 1910 7 2,026,417 ,Conway et a1. Dec. 31, 1935 1947 2,422,438 Richards June 17, 

